Mark 9:42-50
42 “If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. 43 If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. 45 And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell. 47 And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell, 48 where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched. 49 “For everyone will be salted with fire. 50 Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”
So, when I looked at the text this week, and actually all four of the Lectionary texts, I went, “Uh…No thanks.” This text comes across extremely harsh, let alone confusing, as well as one of the most misconstrued and misquoted texts in all of the bible. For starters, and I don't know about you, but I don't really want to entertain the idea that my thoughts, my choices, my words and actions could be so ruinous to others that it would be better off if parts of me were cut off, or that I'd be thrown into the sea, never to be heard from again.
Thankfully scholars are in agreement that these are metaphors not to be taken literally, as some like to do. Instead, Jesus is using the intensity of these metaphors to get across the seriousness of his point: discipleship is not only a tremendous privilege, but a tremendous challenge. It takes dedication. It takes constancy of commitment and thought, word and deed and a sincere and ongoing level of care and attention, lest we stumble.
Well, that's actually not what the text is entirely saying. It's even more serious than that. It means consistent, effective and discipleship is crucial, because without a regular wholehearted commitment to Christ, our thoughts, words and actions cause others to stumble and fall. Yikes!
As we examined last week, denying ourselves and taking up the cross is not for the faint of heart, but it's a necessary mindset and an action to become a true disciple. In this week’s text, Mark's Jesus is casting the net even wider. In essence, he is saying it's not enough to just believe. Being a disciple means that we are called to a higher level of responsibility, not only for ourselves, but for others. The disciples (and we) are being directed to a deep level of self-examination. The disciples (and we) are being called to acknowledge that there are requirements and some difficult demands for discipleship.
“Following Jesus”, as author Joyce Rupp says, “is to serve even when the body and the spirit are weary, and when not knowing what lies ahead”. At this particular time in our lives and in the life of this congregation and in the world, we are wondering, and likely worrying, about all of what lies ahead. The last 18 months have affected us in countless ways, some of which we are only now beginning to see. The impact and the ongoing threat of this virus has brought out all sorts of emotions and challenges to our faith beyond what anyone could have guessed. Verse 49 affirms that: that everyone will be “salted with fire” which means that there are going to be trials for the disciples (and us) that will have to be endured by following Christ. The disciples (and we) are urged not to lose our faith. We're urged not to lose dedication and commitment; not to succumb to the standards set by society. Mark refines this metaphor so that we can understand the importance of Jesus’ call on our lives. If saltiness is gone, so is its capacity to season. Discipleship gets watered down. Then we lose our ability to carry out the work of Christ.
Charles Cousar calls this text “the antidote for the ever-present temptation to overestimate one's position as the ‘chosen’. If you're a life-long Presbyterian, you may know we're notoriously called the “Frozen Chosen”, because of Calvin’s theology of being elected (chosen), but not too strong on sharing our emotions, which of course is not true in this congregation. And while may be a handful of people who really do think of themselves more highly in their positions of power with their jobs, in their churches or even in their family story by and large that’s not the issue that I see in this congregation. I think it’s the exact opposite. The problem that we're facing here, in my opinion, is that people are not over-estimating their value and their importance, but grossly underestimating how much their presence matters in church, especially right now. This text is actually warning us right here and right now that if our saltiness is gone, so is our capacity to season. I’m calling a scandal in the making. The scandal in the making means is if the community our faith community, gets watered down, we lose the ability to carry out the work of Christ.
Now I know that I am “preaching to the choir” and for all of you who are here today and for those of you who are watching on Zoom. But friends, we are losing our capacity to season because of the lack of people present. Now I know that there are those within our congregation that are high risk and they're afraid to return and I honor that. But foe the rest? Hear me now. It is time to return to church! I’m breaking out in a sweat even saying it. I haven't slept all night worrying about saying this. But it’s time, high time to return to church. There are a lot of areas in this church that need shoring up that can't be done by me or even a small remnant. They need to be carried out by a vibrant, dedicated, energetic faith community.
One of our parishioners has often successfully gotten his kids even out of bed to worship, and to participate in the life of the church by saying, “Sometimes you need the church. Sometimes the church needs you.”
Friends, we cannot let our setbacks caused by this insidious disease to continue to control and manage us. But here's what I really want you to know. It may not occur to you that your presence and your participation not only lifts you up, it lifts up other people. When we don't participate in the works of Christ, we are not only a stumbling block for ourselves, but for others. That is “the scandal in the making”. And it’s right there in the text. The word stumbling block meaning cause to lose one’s faith. comes from the Greek word scandalizo—the word we get scandal from. What I don't want is for us to be a scandal in the making where we are doing other things instead of coming back to church or participating in the life of the church in any way. Instead I want us to be a renewed and renewing community, or as the Presbyterians say “Reformed and always reforming”. It won't be easy to rebuild what we've lost, for sure, but we can't do it without all hands on deck. We can't do it without all of you.
It is easy to watch worship on YouTube and thinking that we're still taking part of something and it was a very helpful stopgap measure when we were forced to be apart. But when we come to when you come to church and have a conversation with someone, you didn’t expect to and you listen to their story or their aches and pains (in their hearts or in their bodies or in their lives), we are building up the community, not a stumbling block.
That is the number one mission of this church and any other church. And that's what I believe Christ is really calling us to do. I desperately don't want us to lose our saltiness. I want us to enrich and enhance it, so that we come together once again as a rich and loving community of faith, and we won't have to worry about the mill stone ever again. May it be so. Amen.